IRAN: Slain Protester's Father Will File Suit to Find Killer, Calls for Accountability for State Violence

27-Year-Old Died from Bullet to Head Amidst Violent State Assault on Protestors

Manouchehr Bakhtiari, the father of a young protestor who was shot to death as
he participated in the recent
protests in Iran, will file a complaint with judicial authorities demanding
the identification of the person responsible for killing his son, he told the
Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on November 28.

Pouya Bakhtiari, 27, died of a bullet wound to the head in his mother's arms on
November 26 in the Mehrshahr district of Karaj, west of the capital Tehran.
According to the death certificate, he lost his life due to "being struck by a
bullet," his father told CHRI.

The protests that started peacefully across Iran in response to the announcement
of a gasoline price hike, were met with a violent state response that included
the firing of live ammunition into crowds of unarmed civilians. Because of a
state-imposed news blackout and internet shutdown in the country, only now are
credible reports beginning to emerging regarding the numbers killed-with current
estimates well over a hundred. Many more were injured and thousands arrested.

"The prosecutor told me I should come and file a complaint and he would pursue
the matter and find the killer," Bakhtiari said.

"I will take this step but I don't know who to sue. I don't know who killed my
son. I don't know where to file. I haven't had a chance to do it because I have
been a real mess since Pouya was killed. I will file a complaint in a few days
when I'm feeling a little better so that eventually they would find the killer.
I want them to tell me who killed my son."

Iranian authorities have not given an official tally of the number of people
killed during nationwide protests that gripped the country after the sudden
increase in the price of gasoline on November 15.

On November 29, Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, the editor-in-chief of the opposition
news site, Kalameh, defended a report that at least 366 people had been killed
since November 16.

"Based on the information we have, the number of deaths is very high, such as in
Shahriar, in Tehran Province, where 43 people, including a nine-year-old child,
have been killed," Amir Arjomand said in an interview with
Radio Farda.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International raised its estimate of the casualties. "The
confirmed number of protesters killed in Iran has risen to at least 161
protesters, according to credible reports received by Amnesty International.
The real death toll is likely to be significantly higher," the human rights
organization announced on
November 29.

Since 15 November Iran's security forces have brutally killed 143+ protesters. Their human stories are now emerging.

On November 24, Ghasem Mirzaie Nikou, a member of Iran's Parliament from
Damavand, Tehran Province, put
the number of deaths at 131.

"[My son] had a job, a life, and a good salary," Manouchehr Bakhtiari told CHRI.
"He had studied electrical engineering. He had a car, a home, a good life. I
have a pistachio processing plant. He was the general manager.

"He was critical about the current situation. He wanted peace and a better life
for his people. That's what we want, too.

"When a foreign invader [Iraq] occupied our country [in 1980], we had a duty to
go to the front and defend our land. We went and defended. I was in the war
front for five years. Now it is up to the authorities to bring peace to the
people and create jobs and improve people's lives.

"We want there to be peace in the country. We want people to be able to work
with ease. To be able to make a living. To have freedom so that all Iranian
tribes - Turks, Persians, Lurs, Arabs, - can live together."

The BBC Persian Service has published a series
of videos that Pouya Bakhtiari recorded of the unrest before his death on
November 26.

In one video, he calls on people to join the protests, expresses hopes for "the
dawn of a better day for the people of Iran" and chants "clerics get lost."

In another part he says, "I have come here and put my life in danger. Mothers
and fathers should also tell their kids to come outside."

According to Manouchehr Bakhtiari, Pouya was with his mother when he was struck
by a bullet.

"My wife called and said, 'Pouya has been shot. Get to the hospital.' By the
time I got to Ghaem Hospital in Karaj, my son had already left this world. Pouya
was our only son. He died in his mother's arms. His head had been completely
smashed. He died before getting to the hospital."

Bakhtiari added: "They wouldn't give us his body on the day he died. I met with
the Karaj Prosecutor, Mr. Samadi, and he said it wouldn't be possible because
the Interior Ministry had sent a letter that all bodies should be sent to
Tehran. I objected. I said 'Why Tehran? We are in Karaj. You can't let Tehran
interfere in your work in Karaj.' He said, 'give me an hour and I will speak
with the authorities.' He called back in an hour and said I could go and pick up
my son's body.

"We carried out the burial in Beheshte Sakineh Cemetery. We are from the
Bakhtiari tribe and the whole community came to the funeral. More than 2,000
people showed up but there weren't any problems."

On his Instagram page, Pouya
Bakhtiari described himself as vegetarian electronic engineer and wrote:
"Imagine all of us living in peace, it's too beautiful to just be a dream."